Davina McCall fronts a Long Lost Family Special about the devastating Spanish Baby Scandal, and we take look at exactly happened and how many families are thought to be affected.
As part of a Long Lost Family Special airing on January 21, the Long Lost Family team search on behalf of people who believe they or their family may have been involved in the Spanish Baby Scandal. Hosts Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell meet with Ruth Appleby, who gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in Spain in 1992. Ruth was told her daughter had died, but she now believes she may have been stolen at birth.
Maria Elena approached the show on behalf of her 93-year-old mother Ana - the pair believe that Ana’s twins born in Madrid in 1958, could also have been stolen at birth. Vast numbers of women have come forward suggesting their babies were taken from them at birth and given or sold to other families. We look into what happened during the Spanish Baby Scandal, and the scale of the activity thought to have continued into the 90s.
What was the Spanish Baby Scandal?
Between the 1930s until the 1990s and under the regime of the late dictator, General Francisco Franco, it's alleged that newborn babies were separated from their mothers without consent and placed into an underground adoption network - it's believed they were adopted or sold to those loyal to Franco's regime. Those involved in the scheme include those the women would've trusted, including nuns, priests and doctors.
The practice of taking babies from their mothers is believed to have started as a tactic by Franco to get rid of those he thought had communist leanings - often those who'd fought against his fascist uprising during the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War. However, it continued long after his death in 1975 and a return to democracy, when it had become a profitable business.
Franco's regime saw women lose many hard-earned rights, including divorce and adultery becoming illegal, and women prevented from having their own bank account, job or leaving the country without prior consent from their husband. Women were expected to marry and have many children, and some were thought to be more suitable mother material than others.
According to NPR, Spanish psychiatrist Antonio Vallejo-Nájera pushed the narrative that a Marxist ideology was inherited and Republican women carried what he named a "red gene." With Franco behind him, Vallejo-Nájera pushed for children to be separated from mothers who had any involvement with the Republican Party, however distant the connection.
As financial incentive for baby trafficking took over from political motives, new groups of women were targeted - this included those who were working-class, single, or young mothers. Women were usually told the same story when they'd given birth - that their babies had been taken for routine tests and had passed away from complications. If a woman asked to see her baby, she'd be told they had already had a post mortem and been buried.
Ruth Appleby, 61, and her husband, Howard, were living in Spain when Ruth fell pregnant in 1992. As per the Daily Mail, when she arrived at the hospital to give birth, Ruth overheard a nurse tell a patient, "be careful because otherwise your baby will die," before turning to Ruth to add, "Like this lady’s baby is going to die."
She was later given morphine and then delivered her daughter under general anaesthetic. Initially, Ruth was told her daughter was doing well, but Howard received a call telling him to return to the hospital - on arrival he was told Rebecca had died from heart problems and had to break the news to Ruth.
The couple were told their daughter had already been buried in a local cemetery overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Upon hearing of the baby scandal, Ruth became suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Rebecca's death and turned to Long Lost Family in the hope she might be able to find some answers or closure.
How many families were affected by the Spanish Baby Scandal?
It's incredibly difficult to put exact numbers on such a clandestine operation, but according to the BBC, lawyers believe up to 300,000 babies could've been taken from their mothers. The publication also reports that the name of one doctor, Dr Eduardo Vela, came up a number of times during investigations.
In 1981 it was indicated that 70% of births at Dr Vela's Madrid clinic were registered as "mother unknown". Although this practice was legal and used to protect the identity of unmarried mothers, it was also alleged to be used to cover up baby theft and trafficking.
Dr Vela stood trial and it was found he had committed the crimes but he was not legally convicted because too much time had elapsed since his alleged part in the scandal.
